Labour productivity on the rise. How long will the trend last?

Labour productivity, which started to show signs of rebound since mid-year, continued to grow in the third quarter, while wage earnings recorded a downward trend.

The situation has changed since the booming years when wage saw rises of 20-25% per year, leaving behind productivity gains, with economists warning that this wage increase is "illusory", because it fuels inflationary pressures.
"Labour productivity has returned to positive territory, seeing a 1.6% rise in the second quarter of 2010 against the similar period of last year, and a 1.9% rise in the third quarter of this year," said Vergil Voineagu, chairman of the National Statistics Institute.
He added that labour productivity had fluctuated, from high positive levels, such as that recorded in the third quarter of 2008 (10.7%), to steady declines from the first quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010.
The ratio between productivity and salaries is a fundamental relation in an efficient, competitive economy.